Just A Little Girl
by RobotKat
Summary: Alice reflects on herself and her friends on her way home through a risky street. Someone will protect her, she doesn't need to worry...or should she? *Now with new chapters!*
1. Chapter 1: I'm Going Home

It was early February in Tokyo, six in the evening, with darkness just beginning to set. A faint batch of snow begun to descend upon the streets, flowing slowly, seeming to hang limply in the air for a moment until someone could stir it. Children were running up the streets, chattering, some warning each other that if they failed to get home before full dark, Masquerade would appear and kill them. A group of three children ran squawking past the public libary, heading towards a cluster of apartment towers. Coming out of the library was a tall young girl dressed only in a thick parka, thin pants and little white boots. She stopped by the stairs of the libary and listened to the children passing by.

The oldest boy led the pack, smirking. "Hurry up, Ami! He's comin' up! I see him up the street!"

"Robby, shut _uuup_!" A short little girl howled in response. "I'm gonna drop my Bakupouch!"

A black-haired boy begun to slow down, lungs huffing. "I-I hear footsteps! What do you--"

An elderly woman stepped out of the alley, and the children stopped, screaming. Their vision focused, and embarrassed, they continued up the street. Amused, Alice smiled and turned up the other end of the street.

She looked up, focusing on the falling snow. It seemed almost hypnotic, and she forced herself to look down again. She was headed to a local noodle bar, run by the family of her friend, Runo. Runo was a chipper girl; just a few years younger than Alice, and already, she tried to be her guide. Alice didn't mind. She loved being in the company of anyone, ever since the gloomy days of living in Moscow. Only her grandfather, and at one point, her mother, had been there. She'd been to an elite private school, and things hadn't been much better...it wasn't as if anyone had disliked her, it was simply that everyone was so focused with work and study. Alice could compare them to robots.

On the plus side, it had been so cold there that the winters of Tokyo were nothing more than 'mild' to Alice.

She needed to get 'home' soon.

Runo's parents would be waiting; as soon as Alice arrived, Runo's mother would clap a beefy hand on her shoulder, laughing about how worried she'd been. Runo's father would try and offer Alice a drink, she would refuse, then Runo's mother would bring Alice her pajamas. It was always how it had been when Alice was late. One night, Runo's father had said, "We wouldn't want you to get hurt."

Out of the corner of her eye, Alice saw Runo in the kitchen, washing the dishes again. That one second, just for a second, Runo seemed to buckle inward upon hearing it. Alice briefly felt almost...like she was stealing someone's family.

Alice got to bed quietly, and almost could not sleep over what she'd seen. She reached it soon enough, and in the morning, she saw Runo on the nearby futon, sleep-talking something about cake.

She brushed her thick, vibrant curls out of her face. It was getting darker, and the snowfall was becoming thicker. Snowflakes landed on her coat and eyelashes, like crystalline confetti. It almost looked pretty.

Was _she_ pretty? Alice always tried to look good each day, not necessaroily for anyone. She must be _something_, at least, as all those boys in the noodle bar always made advances on her. She'd turn them down, someone would ask her how old she was, she'd say fourteen. Then the boys would be surprised, she looked sixteen or seventeen or whatever, they'd all be happy, then Alice would move onto the next table. So forth.

That's why she liked being with Dan, Marucho and the rest of the bedlam. She still felt like she was eleven, like them. She loved when Marucho invited the group over to his fortress of a home, and when everyone ran around shouting, their Bakugan floating about. Shun would do his trick where he played a leaf like a whistle, then they'd have lunch. But recently, it almost felt like Shun was watching her. Not in an infuriated way, just...she would say, curious. Interested. She was worried that he was interested in her; to her, he was still a child.

_"I want a talking Bakugan,"_ Alice hummed in her head.

Alice was getting closer to 'home' now. She had to walk through a brief two-block stint of sleazy-looking shops; the two most dangerous places being a bar and a pawn shop. One time in the summer, Alice and Runo had walked 'home' together, and a man jumped out of the pawn shop and insisted on selling them a watch.

But they'd survived that, hadn't they? Alice passed by the offending pawn shop, dormant for once. She was halfway through the stint. After this, just one block, and then 'home'. To calm herself down, she thought to herself, _"I don't have to worry now...I'm almost there...I don't need to be scared..."_

_"Because I will protect you."_

Alice froze. Another voice, another person, had spoken from nowhere in her mind. She thought she should be scared, but looking around, she found herself alone on the street. Consoled by the lack of threat - and the voice's offer - she headed 'home' again.

She was passing a Chinese restaurant. A man and a woman were screeching inside. She wanted to look in the window, but kept on walking, almost robotically. Someone was slapped in the restaurant, and the shouts rose. She ignored it as best she could.

She crossed the street.

Walking on, Alice amusedly looked towards an alley coming up ahead. Runo had called it "Death Alley", as it was the place she lost her first Bakugan. It was to some tenth grader. Runo said his name was Chiro, or something with a 'ch--

Alice felt weak.

Her legs begun to buckle, and she was losing her vision. _"Oh please...please, not another dizzy spell..."_

She'd been getting them often for the past year. Maybe longer.

She was getting so _sick_ of them.

Hurrying, Alice tried to move forward to the bank; at least if she collapsed there, someone could find her easily. But she was getting closer to fainting once more in the street.

"Please, no..." Alice begun pleading with whatever invisible force that was forcing her down. "Please, don't let me faint out here...it's night...I'm just a child...someone...some..."

She moved towards the alley, almost automatically. She murmured, "Oh please God, not in here..."

Alice slumped into the wall, barely standing up. Things were beginning to warp in her vision. She could see a trashcan, a cat...a...

Alice suddenly felt like she was floating, floating in her own head. She vaguely felt herself pull down the hood of her parka, and reach into her pocket.

Then Alice shut down.

From her pocket emerged a plastic mask. It had thick blue lenses, with a shining red band connecting the lenses into a pair of sunglasses. Without thought, 'Alice' put the glasses to her face, warmth fulling her body.

The small girl slumped over in the alley begin to morph...morphing into a tall, strangely-dressed young man, with blonde hair flung into a freakish updo. He took a step towards the back of the alley.

"I really hate to do this to her," Masquerade whispered mockingly. "But I'll take care of her, won't I?"

He laughed sharply, as he walked deeper into the alley. Slowly, he begun to fade off, and soon, he disappeared.

____________________________________________________________________________

This is a pretty strange thing for me to write; I haven't been much into _Bakugan_ for a long time. Tonight, I felt oddly nostalgic, and just had to write about Alice. See, when _Bakugan_ trailers first played in Canada, I was exactly her age. She was instantly my favorite character before I even saw the series, but when I finally did, I just..._wow_. Sadly, I don't think a lot of kids like her; something about her proximity with Shun. (jealous fangirls?) But the poor girl goes though a lot in the show, as if having her grandfather go insane and having herself turn into a young man and battle with children wasn't enough; she doesn't even fully know what's happening to her until halfway through the series.

I still love this little redhaired girl, be she Masquerade or not.


	2. Chapter 2: Pancakes and Windows

I had no idea this story would get to popular in just a week! While I felt "Just A Little Girl" was best as a standalone, I decided to make just a few more chapters. It all depends how many ideas I get. (I actually missed several episodes between #20 and #32, so I'm afraid to go too far.) Also, a kid named Shotaro appears near the end of this chapter, but don't worry, he appears only briefly in later chapters.

••••

It was 8:52 A.M.

The golden morning light begun to beam, almost burn through the thin linen curtains that hung in the room Alice and Runo shared. The light filled the room with a warm, fire-like colour, enough to wake the still-sleeping redhaired girl on the small mattress. Alice was laying almost like she had freely collapsed on top of the bed, the way her limbs were strung about, and her hair tangled. She was still in her parka and day clothes.

Her eyes opened, slowly. Alice felt her body gradually come into feeling, starting with her arms. For a moment she had the horrifying feeling that her legs were paralyzed, but calmed when she lifted her left leg as a test.

She had no boots.

She sat up, searching the floor with her eyes. There, by the foot of her bed, were her winter boots, neatly standing up and in a small puddle of melted ice. Alice paused, wondering why she hadn't put her boots at the front door like usual. Then it came to her that her last memory of the night before was being close to passing out in an alley.

And then she'd woken up at home. Something was missing.

The door squawked loudly, causing Alice to turn, bewildered. Runo stood in the doorway, annoyed.

"Oh _geez_, Alice!" She chimed. "It's almost nine and you're still in bed?"

"I'm sorry, I…was kind of late." Alice said, a little embarrassed and confused.

"Well, be lucky we don't start our shift until lunch!" Runo let worry turn into words. "And where the heck were you? I swear, my mom an' dad were waiting at the doors, then it was nine o'clock when I went to bed, and what were you doing? You were asleep!" Runo flung her arms in the air. "Seriously, how'd you sneak in? You'd better teach it to me sometime, too!"

Alice stood up and took off her coat. "Trust me; if I knew, I'd tell you."

Runo held out her hand, gesturing to the coat. "Give it. I'll go hang it up."

Alice passed her the item, and then Runo headed down the stairs. Alice became aware of the mess left by her boots, so she took several tissues from a box on Runo's desk and begun wiping up the water. After a few moments, Runo stomped up the stairs and returned to the doorway, simply watching.

Her mother called out from downstairs, "Runo, do you want pancakes?"

"_WHAT?"_

"_PANCAKES!_ Do you WANT them?"

"_YES!"_

"Butter or no butter?"

"_WHAT?"_

"_NEVER MIND!"_

There came a long pause, broken only by the sound of pans clattering downstairs. Alice finished cleaning the floor, and discarded the dirtied tissues in the little trashcan that sat next to the desk.

Runo's mother called out once more, "Does Alice want any?"

Runo cupped her hands to her mouth and shouted, _"WHAAAT?"_

Alice, desperate to prevent another shouting match, ran to the door and called out, "YES!"

And things were quiet once more.

Runo watched Alice carefully smoothe out her bedspread, trying to correct any wrinkle or fault that she'd caused on top of it. Runo became bored by this, and edged towards the stairs.

"Alice, come on! After breakfast, everyone's gonna be at the mall."

"Again?" Alice thought back to less than a week ago, when she and the group had gone to the local mall, and had done nothing except for loiter and almost get in a battle.

"Yeah, again!" Runo said. She looked upwards and shook her fist, threatening whoever seemed to bother her. "I wanna see if that annoying kid in the food court comes back..."

"Okay, just let me get my boots," Alice picked them up carefully, as Runo ran down the stairs. Alice stood up facing the window, and let her eyeline drift.

Then her vision focused.

It took her a moment to comprehend what was before her. What she saw greatly disturbed her, surrecting a number of freakish possibilities as to what could have happened overnight. With her free hand, Alice gently let her fingers slide across the now scratched paint of the windowsill.

The window had been cracked open, from the outside.

••••

The night before, Masquerade had materialized himself to appear on a stone fence. He looked up through his blue-tinted goggles, towards the house that the fence belonged to. It was a large, decorative house, about the size of two residential homes of Tokyo. Inside was a young boy and his mother, a doctor. The boy owned a Bakugan that Masquerade greatly wanted to add to his own collection.

He did not wait long. A small black-haired boy, rubbing his forehead emerged into view, passing by the doors of the second level balcony. He stared at the distant figure on the fence, first sleepily, then with disbelief and horror. He cautiously opened one door and took a few steps out, each time his feet landing with a shock from the cold.

"N...no way..." He said, his voice on the edge. "Not you! Not you again!"

"What wrong, Shotaro?" Masquerade drawled, mockery in his voice. "Aren't you excited to finally meet me in person?"

Shotaro took a step back. "You stole my friend's Bakugan! He...he told me all about it!"

"Oh, that Falconeer! I remember." Masquerade pretended to go deep into thought. "What was that British boy's name...Kenji?"

"Yeah, it was!" Shotaro begun to well up with fury. "And you'd better give it back to him!"

"I'm afraid I can't do that so suddenly...but maybe, you could earn it back?"

"What...do you mean?"

"I bring to attention your Bakugan...is her name not Sparky?"

Suddenly, a little red orb rolled into the balcony, paused, then clicked open, revealing itself to be a ducklike Bakugan. It swiveled to the side, pointing itself at Shotaro. With a distinctly female voice, it asked, "Shotaro? Is that who I think it is?"

"Sparky, quickly! Roll back in the house!"

Masquerade paused, deep in hesitation, trying to hide his surprise. "So your Sparky is female..."

Sparky bounced, turning to face Masquerade dauntingly. "Heh! For a crazy Bakugan thief, you're pretty inobservant!"

Masquerade's anger begun to slowly wash over him. He was silent for a moment, trying to form a cohesive comeback.

"Crazy...? Inobservant...?"

Shotaro turned away from Masquerade. He kneeled down, frantically trying to push Sparky back through the bay doors.

"Sparky, please! If we make him too mad, he'll-"

"Aw, come on! He _deserves_ a nice thrashing!" Sparky tried to roll forward, but simply revved in the incave of Shotaro's clasped hands.

Suddenly, a shadow fell over either of them. Boy and Bakugan both ceased their movement, looking up uneasily. To their shock, Masquerade was now standing directly behind them, balanced on the squared balcony railing.

"How about we make this game more..._risky?_" Masquerade's face lit up with a grin. "Let's have a battle. The winner gets Kenji's Falconeer back.

Shotaro and Sparky looked at each other, turning slowly. Shotaro nodded slowly, his mind alit with all the possibilities of danger.

Sparky, on the other hand, broke the silence. "O' course! In fact, I would've challeneged you _anyway_, but with Falco on the li-"

"Save your words!" Masquerade roared. He reached over and shut the balcony door loudly, shutting out their last attempt for escape. "Let the battle begin, with your integrity and that fool's Bakugan as the prize!"

Either human took from their pocket a field card, and held it up. Shotaro's card moved slightly, his arm and nerves beginning to shake.

"Field, _open!_"


	3. Chapter 3: Mallbound

Hey guys, I'm back with another chapter! The story's actually going somewhere this time, and this is the last time Shotaro shows up! (I might go for another two chapters before finishing this completely; depends how things go.

••••

Marucho's hair had a perplexing structure.

It curled itself neatly at the ends, two cowlicks at the very top of his head organized like bunny ears. His thin, neatly-arranged bangs threatened to hide his eyes, and Alice had to wonder if Marucho's hair was natural, or if his parents had some twisted style ideals at home.

Alice was sitting in the food court of the local mall, directly under an aqua-tinted sunroof. Runo, Julie, Shun and Marucho filled the table, emersed in their own conversation. Alice had found nothing to say, and had become interested in the structure of Marucho's hair. Soon, the young boy turned to her, smiling, forcing Alice to hastily regain consciousness.

"Alice?" Marucho asked with his tiny, raspy voice. "What do _you_ think about the whole disaster?"

Alice skimmed her brain for a way out. "Well, it's hard to explain, but-"

"Hey! Blue-haired girl! Did you want your fries with or without gravy?" Some boy yelled from a food stand.

Runo cupped her hand to her mouth for volume, and shouted back, "Yuck! NO!"

_I've been saved,_ Alice thought to herself. Runo ran off, then returned with a cardboard tray of french fries. Runo got overly-excited about "exotic American food", while Julie would always watch in annoyance, having seen plenty of it before.

Runo started eating. "Hey! These are really good. Here, try it, Joole." She picked up a second fry and waved it dangerously close to Julie's face.

Julie shrieked and swatted the offending item away, smacking onto the table. She and Runo stared at the murdered fry, and then either girl dissolved into laughter.

Alice laughed a little, but suddenly, a wave of dizziness went through her. Hoping to conceal it, she balanced her face in her hand, setting her elbow on the table. She would have been reprimanded in Moscow for elbows on the table, but here, she could get away with it. Alice felt a little spoiled.

"Runo, you keep eating like that and you'll get fat!" Julie grumbled.

"Well, why won't _you_ get fat?"

"'Cause I don't."

"Really," Runo said, smirking. "Does it all go _there_?" She pointed a finger at Julie's chest.

As Runo begun laughing, and Julie waved her fists, Marucho's wide-eyed face flourished with pink.

Shun rolled his eyes in disgust and stood up, saying "I'm gonna go walk around."

"I'll go, too," Alice said, hand to her head. "I feel a little strange."

Shun's face, usually devoid of emotion, lit up with a faint smile.

Soon enough, Alice and Shun were walking silently through the food court, nearing the shops. Shun became visibly irritated by the awkwardness between them, and broke it with:

"They're rather immature, aren't they."

Alice nodded. "But it's the only way they can be together without fighting."

Shun shifted his attention to the mall's decor. "Nice...mall, huh."

Alice knew he probably was sarcastic about the decor; the food court had a white and aqua-green colour scheme, with a small fountain full of tossed coins and a skylight dome directly

over the centre of the eating area. The court was filled with light, and Alice loved it all.

"It's quite 80's, but I like it." She said, beaming. "It reminds me of a palace."

"And you would be the princess," Shun whispered to himself, staring at his shoes.

"P-pardon?"

"I said, let's go to the fountain."

Alice sighed and followed her somewhat-younger companion to the coin pond. What struck her most was the sight of a little boy with thick black hair, standing dejectedly by the fountain, clutching a 5 yen coin. Alice's footfalls softened immediately, and she headed towards him.

The boy sensed Alice and Shun's approach, and turned sluggishly to them. His face was tired and weak.

Alice was tense. "W-what's wrong?"

"I can't say," the boy said, uneasily. "I shouldn't tell, or he'll come back..."

Alice was getting the horrifying feeling that she'd seen this boy before.

"Who'll come back?" Shun asked, his face set back on 'neutral'.

"M-Masquerade," the boy sputtered. "He fought me last night. A-and, he took two of my Bakugan, and...and..."

Shun was becoming frustrated at the boy's expense. "Took _what_?"

"Sparky! My favorite Bakugan! She was a duck person with big wings, and...and..."

"She could talk, couldn't she," Alice asked, her voice gentle. The boy nodded.

"Yeah! I didn't wanna fight, but my friend got _his_ Bakugan sent to the Doom Dimension three days ago! Masquerade promised he'd give it back if I won!"

Alice started to feel light-headed.

"Kid, what's your name?" Shun was slowly becoming incensed by the story.

"I'm Shotaro," the child replied. "Shotaro Kaneda."

Alice, for one moment, felt like her body had risen and was floating. She dizzily looked down at her feet, and was briefly surprised to find them still on the ground.

Shotaro was turned to the side, preparing to walk back to the mall. "I have to go now. I...I need to talk to my friend."

"Was he the one who got robbed, too?" Shun asked.

Shotaro nodded. "Y-yeah. His name...it's Kenji."

Alice felt a bizarre shock of deja vu, and took a step backwards. Wordlessly, slumped against the fountain banister. She closed her eyes, her breathing softening. Shun panicked and reached out for her, trying to stand her back up.

"Alice? _Alice!_" He moved Alice towards a bench, and she vaguaely formed herself into a seated position. Shun set his hands on her shoulders and shook, first gently, then faster and panickedky. "Alice, please! Shotaro, could you get-"

He turned. The younger boy had run off.

Shun grimaced, muttering insults. He turned back to Alice, watching her move slowly.

Alice, for a moment, felt like something plastic had materialized into her pocket. She lifted her hand and set if over her pocket, finding nothing. Shun relaxed at the new movement.

"Alice?" He asked, his voice gentle. "What happened?"

Alice had returned to conciousness, and was sitting up normally, her left hand put to her head. "I...I really don't know."

Shun seemed to open his mouth as if to say something, but stopped and shut his mouth. He shrugged, looking away. "You almost fainted.

"Where did Shotaro go?"

"That brat ran off when you were-"

"_Heyyy!_" An all-too familiar voice piped from around the corner. "What're you guys doing over there?"

Shun turned to the side, and with grim emphasis, said "Julie...on the horizon."

Julie, Runo and Marucho appeared in sight, running towards the bench. Marucho exclaimed, "You've been gone for almost seven minutes! Is there an emergency?"

Runo said, having caught hold of teasing material.

Alice was laughing nervously. "N-no, no...we weretalking to some boy, and I almost fainted. Nothing like _that_..."

She couldn't help but notice how Shun was staring at the ground.

••••

Masquerade remained deep in Alice's subconciousness, vaguely going through the disaster that nearly transpired.

He tried to wave his arm, but couldn't see it. He said quietly to himself, "I shouldn't have forced myself out to watch that boy.

Silence.

"I do need to keep myself secret...one wrong move, and I lose a perfect vessel to manipulate..."

Once again, silence was the only thing to reassure him. Masquerade, partly annoyed, returned to his thoughts, waiting for the day to become night.


	4. Chapter 4: A Promise

Holy cow, you guys…can you believe I haven't updated this in a year? I can't even _compute_ that. I'm sorry to say that I've been barely following New Vestroia, but I did get a Shun figure for Christmas. (He's standing on a base that was full of mothball-tasting candy!) I vaguely remember what I had planned for the ending, but I'll try to wind it up soon. Looking back feels like I'm entering a whole new space and time…I am so old.

* * *

Masquerade paced the ground of the Doom Dimension. Thunder roared somewhere in the distance, and a Haos Griffin picked worriedly at a Warius's skeleton. He smirked slightly.

His entire body was filled with boredom, it seemed. Wordlessly, he pointed at the space behind him, and a crackling portal opened up. Masquerade hopped through it calmly, hoping he would find something more interesting in the human world.

It was late in the afternoon in Tokyo. Kids were heading home down the streets, most of them having stayed after class for clubs. Masquerade watched a train soar by on a risen bridge, noting a boy in the window who was staring down at him in awe.

Masquerade suddenly had an overwhelming urge to battle someone. He headed through the alley, hoping to have some indignant child walk into his path.

_One of the nearby schools has a Bakugan Club,_ Masquerade thought. _If I can run into a kid who thinks they're good enough…_

He stopped by a side street, watching a clot of young children run up the block. One of the kids fell down and started to wail. A pubescent boy in all-red suddenly hurried over and helped him up.

"Oh, wonderful…" Masquerade muttered. "_Dan_."

* * *

"You okay, kid?" Dan asked the little boy with navy blue hair. "Any scrapes?"

"I…I'm okay," he said, standing up. "Aren't you Dan?"

Marucho, Julie and Runo caught up with Dan, looking at the kids. Runo switched her grocery bag to her other hand. "What's going on with these kids?"

"Dan, can you help us?" The little boy asked. "Our friends Shotaro and Kenji and Maron's Bakugan all got stolen by Masquerade!"

"Oh, really?" Marucho asked, adjusting his glasses. "What were their types?"

"Um…" A girl with pigtails added. "They had a Falconeer, a Beaconers, and a Monarus."

"They're fifth graders," another kid added excitedly. "They help us with writing."

"Let me think about it…" Dan paused, then gave a thumbs up. "I'll see what I can do!"

The kids cheered, rushing down the street. The pigtailed girl waved back at them.

"Don't promise them stuff we're not even sure we can do," Julie complained.

"I bet I could make a deal with old Masky," Dan said, crossing his arms behind his head. The four walked on.

"I wish Alice were here," Marucho said nervously. "She always seems to be good at battle strategies."

Something caught Dan's eye from the alley. He stopped abruptly, staring to the side. Suddenly, he bolted across the street and into the alley, shouting, "Hey! Hey, Masquerade!"

The other three stood still, worried.

"Is Masquerade really in the alley?"

"The milk's going to go funny if we don't get home," Runo said urgently, glancing down at the grocery bag.

"Dan!" Marucho shouted at the alley. "We've got to go!"

A bright flash came from the alley, and time seemed to slow. The three knew very well what it meant in an instant; another battle was beginning.

Time froze.

* * *

Alice woke up in the chair by the back door of Runo's house. For a moment, it seemed like she was having another dream, the sort that made you feel you were back in real life and everything was just an illusion.

But no, she had somehow gotten from the upstairs TV room to the chair by the door.

Alice stood up, noticing the fresh, little puddles of melted snow trailed by the kids' boots at the door. Runo had obviously invited people over. Alice headed to the restaurant part of the house. Dan and Marucho were sitting at the counter, while Julie was talking with a Ventus Bakugan. Marucho noticed the older girl's presence immediately.

"Oh! Alice!" Marucho exclaimed. "I saw you sleeping in the hall."

"I've been sleepwalking a lot, lately." Alice said warmly. A chilled, uneasy feeling inside her was slowly leaving her. "You guys want anything?"

"Naw, I'm…I'm good." Dan looked down. "I battled Masquerade."

"Oh, no! How'd it go?"

Dan put his face in his hands, groaning slightly. "I…I lost my Ravenoid."

"But look! He won back this girl's Bakugan!" Julie held out a Monarus, which turned to see Alice. "We're going to give it to her in the morning!"

"It's a pleasure to see you children," Monarus replied, her voice high but soft.

Julie giggled. "She's so polite!"

Alice smiled. "Where's Runo?"

"Toilet," Dan said briskly.

Marucho pulled out an indeterminate amount of yen bills from his pocket. "Alice, can I get a strawberry sherbet? This should cover it."

"All right," Alice said, tying back her hair. "I'll get that for you in a flash."

From the corner of her eye, she saw the Monarus in Julie's hand, and a wave of dizziness passed over her. Alice forced herself to steady, and calmly, she went to the kitchen freezer.

* * *

Can you believe this fiction is exactly one year old today? More coming soon, and this I promise!


	5. Chapter 5: Girls and Dreams

Hey guys, I'm only two hundred hours late! I'm sorry… I've had disastrous exams, got into _Patlabor,_ and I realized my parents are just like Runo's parents. They look _exactly the same_. Except mine are angrier.

(Flashing neon sign): BIG CHAPTER AHOY!

* * *

"It's good to see you're feeling better, Alice!" Julie exclaimed from the floor. "Now we can do all the girl things we wanted!"

"You mean, all the girl things Runo wanted," Alice replied, lying on her back on her bed. Held above her head was a Bakugan fanzine. It was about ten o'clock, and the three were now in their pyjamas and taking over Runo's room.

"Well, the boys are finally gone!" Runo hung off her bed. "I always wanted to have 'girl-time'!"

"Girl time?" Julie beamed. "Oh, you mean boob contests?"

Runo's answer involved a pillow to the face.

"You lost already, Runo!" Julie shouted through the fabric.

"Alice, I'm going to braid your hair for you!"

Alice rolled onto her side, holding out the magazine. "Look, they mentioned Shun in the 'Player's Choice' column."

"All the girls are going crazy about his hair," Julie lamented, now resting on the assaulting pillow.

Runo sat up. "And you know he likes you, Alice?"

Alice seemed taken aback. "He doesn't. Shun always takes to himself—"

"You're in denial!"

She rolled over again, exasperated. "I'm also two years older than him."

"Mm?"

"And he's not really my type," Alice said calmly. "I've always found myself liking older boys—"

"Bingo!" Julie exclaimed, sitting up. "We have contact with Alice!"

"I sort of like guys like Dan", Runo muttered, hoping saying it would bring closure and no attention to her.

"C'mon, is it Joe?" Julie was face-to-face with Alice, bursting with joy. "He's pretty nice to look at! But you've got competition with _Chaaan_ …"

Alice sat up, staring angrily at Runo. "Runo, braid my hair!"

Runo sat up, looking equally frustrated. "Of course!"

"Somebody has to braid my hair, too!" Julie, now.

"We'll sit in a circle!"

"I really can't braid, myself!"

A dense thud came from the floor; a broomstick was colliding repeatedly with the ceiling below.

"Girls!" Runo's mother called up from the first floor. "We're trying to sleep, and we can hear everything you're saying!"

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Misaki!" Alice called out.

"It's not your fault, sweetie!"

Runo's dad joined in, drowsy. "Saki, you're as loud as them."

The girls looked at each other, the room drained of energy.

"Right, hair braiding."

"I don't wanna," Runo growled.

"I'll read until someone does something," Alice said, getting back into the fanzine.

"So…" Julie whispered. "How are we supposed to get those kids' Bakugan back?"

Runo paused, noting the other girl's serious tone. "I…I don't know."

"That Monarus said their two other Bakugan were still alive, so that's good…"

"I wish we could get everyone out of the Doom Dimension," Runo sighed, laying back.

Alice felt a chill run through her body.

* * *

It was almost midnight. Alice was now in bed, her eyes hooded as she gazed around the room. Runo was asleep, her head on the wrong end of the bed. Julie was neatly in her sleeping bag. Alice was the only one who hadn't gotten to sleep yet.

She looked to the ceiling. What was going on? How come every time the missing Bakugan were mentioned, she felt dizzy? How come Masquerade had never come to see her? All the headaches, the unanswered questions, what did it mean? Alice's body stung with tension, like she wanted to grab at her skin. She sat up in a rush, wanting to run around, but kept her legs attached to the mattress.

"What's going on?" She murmured, running her hands through her bangs.

Alice remained that way for a moment. Slowly, numbness waved her, almost feeling soothing. She fell back onto the bed.

"What does this mean?" She said aloud, beginning to feel sleepy all of a sudden.

She fell asleep. The room looked picturesque for a moment, the three girls asleep, but then Alice's feminine form begun to flicker and become that of a young man.

Masquerade sat up in the bed, looking around the room with disgust. "Tch…this isn't what I wanted."

He noticed the sleeping girls and looked at them awkwardly, unsure of what to do. He considered starting a body search for their Bakugan, but knew one of them would wake up, and it would just be weird.

"I'm above unfair theft, anyhow…" He muttered, lying back, trying to assume the same pose Alice had been in. "Why are these beds so small?!"

His body flickered again, the slumbering Alice reappearing on the mattress.

She groaned in her sleep and rolled onto her side.

* * *

Alice found herself walking through the marketplace of some small town, much like the one near her aunt's house. Men passed up and down the street, pulling rickshaw carts full of decade-old computer monitors. Alice looked skyward for a moment, finding the sky to look like the ceiling of a warehouse.

It didn't seem to bother her at all, and without looking down, she walked into a small shop. Upon entering, she saw she was in a badly lit corridor with red-painted walls. There were aged posters of bottles and women tacked on the walls, each of them giving her a feeling of déjà vu. Male laughter echoed down from the main room.

Alice looked into the main room, realizing it was a bar, with bright yellow lights throughout. She started to walk in, planning to ask someone where she was.

"You don't want to go in there."

She turned around. Masquerade stood in the other end of the hallway.

Alice stepped back, horrified. "Mas—"

"Quiet!" He held a finger up to his mouth, annoyed. "Follow me. I'd like to talk to you."

Reluctantly, she walked towards him, and the two were soon walking side-by-side through the hall. There were no lights on the other end of the corridor, and the ceiling slowly dropped down. Masquerade's hair dragged against the ceiling, and Alice did her best not to notice.

"You've never asked questions about why you and I've never met, have you?"

Alice glanced at him. "Pardon?"

"You're a rather peaceful-minded girl."

Silence passed.

"Is my grandfather doing okay?" Alice asked, knowing it was only a dream, but it didn't hurt to have someone give her some sort of consolation.

"He'll be fine soon enough," Masquerade said briskly. "Now I want to tell you something."

"Yes?" She looked at the ground, clenching her hands together. They were shaking slightly, but she didn't notice.

"And loosen up, will you?" Masquerade's voice was sharp but calm, with a faint, threatening edge. "Anyways, hold up your hand."

She stopped, holding her hand out in front of her. Alice closed her eyes. "What are you going to do?"

Round, plastic objects were set in the palm of her hand. Masquerade hurriedly moved her hand closed, his fingers keeping hers shut.

"Don't open that hand until you wake up, okay?"

"R…right." She opened her eyes. The hallway had become some sort of swirling blue atmosphere, with little white stars beaming far in the distance. Alice looked around, mystified.

"Alice, you have to realize…I've been watching you. And I will be for a while."

"Huh?"

Masquerade was now floating above her, staring down from the jagged blue lenses of his mask. "It's hard to explain, but I've been guarding you for a very good reason. And your grandfather would be happy to know if he were still himself."

Alice looked at him, surprised, for a moment.

"Pardon?"

"I can't tell you now, but you'll find out what I've been doing soon enough." Masquerade kicked a leg back, and begun to fade into the distance.

"Please, tell me!" Alice tried to swim forward while keeping her right hand closed. "I want to know!"

"All you have to know is that I've been protecting you," he called out before vaporizing. Alice remained frozen in the abyss for a moment before shouting out loud.

"Masquerade!"

Nothing replied.

Disappointed, she looked at her hand, considering looking into it. She stopped her hand from moving open, the memory of Masquerade's warning ringing in her head. He had touched her hand! And besides, if Masquerade told you not to do something, by God, you do not do it.

Alice lingered in the swirling mass for a while, trying to study the stars. She stares at one and begun to feel like something were watching her. Her vision pulled out, and to her surprise, the stars were arranged to look like Shun's face.

"It's time for breakfast," he said, his voice far away and grainy.

* * *

"It's time for breakfast!" Julie called out, rocking Alice's shoulders. "C'mon, Runo's downstairs already!"

"Ugh, I've had such weird dreams," Alice moaned. She sat up, being careful to keep her hand clenched shut. Whatever she was holding was moving.

Julie grinned. "Were there boys?"

"They weren't doing anything you'd be interested in," Alice said, deadpan.

"Julieeee," Runo called out from the bottom of the stairs. "Help me open this can!"

"Hold on!" Julie called back. She got to her feet and prepared to bolt, but she looked over her shoulder warmly at Alice. "Come down as soon as you can."

"Mm." Alice watched her go. That came down to it; something was definitely in her hand, and she had all rights to look at it now. Carefully, Alice drew up her right hand and opened it slowly, expecting something obscene or an explosive object.

It was a red Falconeer and a green Beaconer. They opened slowly with a faint hiss. The Beaconer turned to the Falconeer, asking, "Sparky, where are we?"

* * *

I'm really sorry about putting that image in your head…a giant connect-the-dot Shun head, telling you "it's time for breakfast." Anyways, I'll be sure to get back to work on my other fictions and the next (final) chapter…and this story will get a bonus gag chapter when it's done! Please stay with me!


	6. Chapter 6: Broken Closure

Hi guys! It's been a stark six months since I wrote anything to do with _Just A Little Girl_, but it's been hard to get back into the fan mindframe. Looking around, I notice some ever-present (but not as widespread) Alice hate, even some Fabia hate, and tomes of disturbingly pornographic stories by someone I won't name. And what's up with _Gundalian Invaders_? Julie's the only first-generation girl there, but at least she has a super-cute Rini Tsukino voice.

This fandom is crumbling, and it makes me sad because I was here from the start. I was even responsible for pulling character information from Japanese sites in mid-2007! But I feel it's time to bring this story to an end…the original characters appear for the last time (they won't be in the next chapter). I don't really like this chapter, but I promise I'll make it up to you in the next few…

••••

As soon as Alice reached the bottom of the stairs and before she could open her mouth, Runo and Julie saw her hand and burst into ecstatics.

"Are those the missing ones?" Julie squealed, her hands to her face. "Runo, where did you put the Monarus?"

"You've got Lily?" the Beaconer asked, shocked. Runo was already heading into her room.

"Alice, where did you find them?" Julie asked, overjoyed, shaking Alice's shoulders. Alice did little more than open and close her mouth with unending confusion.

"I-I don't know!" She sputtered a few seconds later. "I got up, and I—"

"I've got the Monarus!" Runo called out from upstairs.

"Everybody get dressed!" Julie proclaimed, rushing up to meet her. "We gotta go back to those kids' Bakugan Club!"

••••

Yakkaina Gaki Elementary, less than a block away from where Dan, Marucho, Runo and Julie had first found the group of third-graders, now had its playground filled with a cluster of second and third graders. In the midst of them were three older kids, nearly giants among the others.

"We met Dan yesterday!" A little boy with blue hair exclaimed. "He said he and his friends are gonna get your Bakugan back!"

"I'd like to see that," one of the older boys, Kenji – gangly, with thick, curly black hair – said with disgust, twisting around a swing he was seated on. "Once Masquerade gets one, it's gone for good."

"They've done things like this before!" Shotaro exclaimed, stepping in front of him. " You should be happy someone can help us!"

"There's nothing to help _with_!"

"You guys, _please_!" Maron, a tall girl with long, straight blonde hair interjected. "It was only yesterday. We have to wait and see."

"Yeah! Maron's right!" One of the little girls called out, hoping to start group applause. Only a few of the kids joined in, but Maron put her hands to her face, blushing immensely.

One of the children noticed the three girls heading into the playground, led by Alice, and lit up. The entire playground was embedded in silence until the three reached the group.

"Did it turn out okay?" Shotaro asked, with some of the younger kids holding onto his arm.

Runo and Julie glanced at each other, beaming, and Alice produced the three Bakugan from behind her back. The three older students gaped at her hand, Shotaro walking forward in shock, his hands held out to Sparky as if one sudden movement would make the girls disappear.

"You…you really got them!" He exclaimed. "How did you do it?"

Alice tried to smile. "I…I don't even know!"

Maron took back her Monarus, the blonde now on the verge of tears. "Lily, are you okay?"

"I'm much better now, my dear." She squirmed under the protective grasp of her owner's fingers. Maron burst out crying, smiling all the while. The kids pulled the Beaconer out of Alice's hand, passing it to Kenji, whose mouth was now agape.

"It's me, man!" Beaconer pleaded, as if he had been gone centuries. "We just turned up in that girl's hand today, and Lily got rescued by Da—"

"Thank you so much!" The curly-haired boy bawled at Alice, snatching away his Bakugan. "You must be an angel!"

Alice froze. "Th-thank you, but I must digress—"

"He's right, Alice!" Runo exclaimed, wrapping her arms around the ginger's waist. Alice's body went rigid for a moment, but gently let her hand rest on Runo's head. The younger girl beamed.

"You guys wanna stay for the rest of the club meeting?" Shotaro asked the three. "It would be great having some celebrities with us!"

The group of children gave this proposal a loud round of approving cheers.

Julie took a step forward, holding up two fingers, and said, "Of course we would! It's not often we get a chance to sit with our own fan club!"

••••

About half an hour later, the three found themselves sitting alone on the playground, Julie and Alice on the swings and Runo building Tigrerra a sandcastle. Unlike Alice, Julie was in-motion, little more than a mocha and pink blur swinging back and forth at top speed.

Tigrerra crawled out of one of the castle's windows and focused on Alice. "My lady, are you all right?"

"Yes…" She looked up, trying to smile. "I was just thinking…I wish I had my own Bakugan companion."

"Julie," said a faint but booming voice from somewhere on Julie's person, "You should put me down."

"It's just a little swinging, Gorem!" She laughed, seven feet off the ground. "You've seen worse!"

Alice watched them, amused. Tigrerra added in, "You just need to find your own Bakugan! Most of us come out of our shells and talk if we get to know our owners well."

"Okay." She said with a nod. "I've been unsure where to start, since I'm usually best with only mapping battle strategies. But still…"

She brushed a few strands of thick orange hair from her face and stood up. It had been a good morning, no dizzy spells, everyone was so happy, but she just couldn't put together a full sentence. It was as if part of her own soul was exhausted, yet contented.

This train of thought was derailed when Julie flipped off the swing, skidding on her feet through the sand for over three metres. At the end of the journey, she fell down almost automatically on her rear.

"Don't do that," protested Gorem, weaselling out of her shorts pocket. "You could have gotten hurt."

"But I'm fine!" She brought him up to her cheek, an impromptu hug. "You're so sweet…"

"You don't need to worry, Gorem!" Runo called out, cupping her hands to her mouth. "Julie has plenty of emergency padding back there!"

A second after the meaning of that statement sunk into Julie, she broke into movement towards Runo. Panicking, the blue-haired girl snatched Tigrerra out of the sandcastle and made a break for it. Alice stood by, bemused, watching the two run in a lopsided circle around the playground.

Dan, Shun and Marucho entered the playground to Alice's right, Dan waving towards her. "Hey, Alice! Runo's dad said you guys were here. Where's Ru— oh."

The diminutive Marucho headed up to Alice's side, Shun tailing. "What set them off?"

Sighing, Alice quickly said, "The usual."

Dan had now joined in on the chase. Runo started yelling, and Alice forced herself to look away. Upon turning to the other boys, she found Marucho prodding Shun's side. Shun snapped to attention and looked back and forth between the two.

"Shun, um, has something he wants to ask you." Marucho said, anticipation in his voice. He took a step back, as if he were backing away from a cart of lit dynamite.

"Yes, that's right…" Shun put a hand on his back, massaging a tense muscle that wasn't there. "Would…would you like to go to a movie with me, Alice?"

She was startled, to say the least. "Of course!"

Shun looked directly at her, and for a moment, it seemed as if his caramel eyes were lit up with delight. Alice saw what was coming and intercepted quickly.

"But I'll go as a friend."

Shun was stunned for a moment, trying to calculate the situation in his mind. Marucho moved back a little more.

"All right," he said with a smile, loosening up. "Marucho can come, too."

"What about them?" The bespectacled blonde gestured to the school grounds. Dan was now being pulled side to side, a girl on either arm.

"He looks preoccupied." Shun turned on his heel, heading towards the street. "Let's go."

Alice and Marucho tailed, as commanded. For a moment, Alice swore she could see a smile on the older boy's face. She relaxed, throwing a glance up at the aquamarine blue sky.


End file.
